USHL playoffs: Stampede flattened, swept by Waterloo

Stampede forward Logan O'Connor (19) works to keep the puck from Waterloo's John Wiitala (10) during their USHL playoff game Thursday at the Arena. Waterloo won 7-2, ending the series.(Photo: Joe Ahlquist / Argus Leader)

Slaying the Anderson Cup champion Waterloo Blackhawks proved to be too tall a task for the Stampede, as the USHL's top regular season team eliminated Sioux Falls with a 7-2 win Thursday night at the Arena.

Waterloo sweeps the best-of-five first-round series, and in doing so brought the Stampede's 15-year stint in the Arena to an end with a thud amid a crowd of 3,551. The Stampede will move to the Denny Sanford Premier Center next season.

The Hawks wasted no time ensuring that the Stampede's season was going to end on this night, jumping out to a 4-0 lead and using their deadly power play to keep the pressure constantly applied.

The Blackhawks scored 20 goals in the series, going 7-for-18 on the power play, including 4-for-9 on Thursday. They outshot Sioux Falls 49-25 in Game 3.

"They're a great team and I won't be surprised if they go on and play for the Clark Cup," said Stampede forward Zeb Knutson, who scored his team's first goal in his final game for his hometown team. "They just had everything going. It felt like the bounces just kind of went their way all series, but we just didn't have it. I hope they go on and win it. That would at least give us a little peace of mind."

Waterloo went up 1-0 on a goal by Hayden Shaw just 1:49 into the game. Just over two minutes later it was 2-0 on a power play goal by Tyler Sheehy. Waterloo had completely taken the fans out of the game.

The Herd seemed to snap out of it from there, but they couldn't stay out of the penalty box.

Against the No. 1 power play in the league (and with their own penalty kill ranked near the bottom), that would prove costly.

Peter Krieger registered a power play goal with five minutes left in the period to make it 3-0 and Brandon Montour made it 4-0 with Waterloo's third power play goal of the period just 40 seconds later. That prompted Stampede coach Cary Eades to insert David Jacobson in goal in place of Art Brey, but the damage was done.

"It was not the recipe we wanted to start," Eades said. "Art had a tough night and we had a tough night in front of him. We gave them way too many power plays and they made us pay for it."

Jacobson did seem to settle things down, and Knutson got the Stampede on the board by pushing one past Cal Peterson with 2:37 left in the period to make it 4-1, but the hole Sioux Falls had dug for itself was just too deep.

Waterloo made it 5-1 in the second on a Blake Winiecki goal – again on the power play – and while the Stampede got a quick spark when CJ Franklin scored just 14 seconds into the third, the Blackhawks pushed the lead back to four just five minutes later on a goal by Tim Lappin.

"We pretty much knew after the second period that we were playing our last game," Knutson said. "So we just tried to go out and give it our all."

Montour had five points for the Blackhawks, assisting on four goals, while Zach Sanford had three assists. Lappin scored a pair of goals. Petersen made 23 saves for the win.

Still, the Herd were more or less even with the Hawks after the 4-0 start, and that was enough for those in a Sioux Falls sweater to hold their heads high afterward.

"That showed the character and pride of our guys," Eades said. "It could've really gotten ugly, but the guys held it together and played with some Stampede pride. That's difficult to do under those circumstances."

WATERLOO 7, STAMPEDE 2

The stat: The Blackhawks led 4-0 in the first period. Zeb Knutson and C.J. Franklin had goals for the Herd.

Final exit: The Stampede played their last game at the Arena before moving to the Sanford Premier Center next season.